Some home sellers are also dropping the sale price
April 23, 2025
Key takeaways:
- Around two in fivehome sellers cut deals that lowered the total cost of buying a homein the first three months of2025.
- Cancellations of pending home sales went upin March, showing how economic concerns are weighing on prospective homebuyers and challenging sellers.
- Tariffs and economic uncertainty are presenting opportunities to homebuyers who are more comfortable with their finances.
Home sellers have been giving concessions at levels not seen for years, another sign thathousinghas shifted to a buyer’s market.
Some 44% of home sellers in the first quarter of 2025 gave concessions, deals thatlower the total cost of buying a home, which is just shy of the record 45% rate in 2023, according to a report from real-estate brokerage Redfin.
Concessions can include money towards repairs, homeowners association fees andclosing costs, but don’t include when the sale price is dropped even though that has been increasingly happening, too.
Buyers used to ask for concessions to cover little things like repairs. Now theyre negotiating concessions so they can afford to buy a home,Chaley McVay, a Redfin Premier real-estate agent in Portland, Oregon said in a statement. A lot of sellers are offering money for mortgage-rate buydowns, and I recently had one seller cover seven months of HOA fees for the buyer.
The jump in home sellers giving concessions follow’s economic uncertainty, largely brought on by President Trump’s tariffs, that is sending jitters through the housing market.
Tariffs are specifically hurtinghousing markets in a few ways, including sending mortgage rates seesawing and boosting construction costs.
Home listings are now at a five-year high and home sales slowed to their slowest pace in six years in March, Redfin said.
Home values also only increased0.2% in March, a month of typically strong growth, and prospective homebuyers now have 19% more homes to choose from than a year ago, according to real-estate website Zillow, which also turned ithome price forecast into negative territory, predicting that prices decline 1.7% in 2025.
Andthe equivalent of around 13%of homes in March saw their pending sales cancelled, which isthe third highest March level in records dating back to 2017, Redfin said.
Home sales prices have also dropped with concessions
Amidstthe turmoil, some home sellers are giving concessions and lowering the selling price.
Redfin said some 21.5%sold in the first quarter of 2025 had a final sale price below the asking price in addition to a concession, up from 18.5% a year earlier, while around 16% had a price cut and a concession, up from 13% a year earlier.
And nearly 10%had all three: Aconcession, a price cut and a final sale price below the original list price, up from 8% a year earlier, Redfin said.
Where are home sellers giving more concessionsin 2025?
Concessions are far more common in parts of the country.
Seattle, Washington had the biggest share of home sales concessions in the first quarter of 2025, with 71%, up from 36% a year ago.
The other top five metros for concessions werePortland, Oregon (64%), Atlanta, Georgia (62%), San Diego, California (61%) and Denver, Colorado (59%).
Prospective homebuyers looking for concessions may also want to check out condos.
Its super common to see seller concessions for condos and new-construction townhomes, but less so for single-family homes unless the single-family home has been sitting on the market for a while, said Stephanie Kastner, a Redfin Premier real estate agent in Seattle, in a statement.
She said it is much more common for concessions to be offered with condos because of skyrocketing HOA fees, insurance and it is in the best interest of builders to keep sales prices high even if they will cut deals.
Condos have become a tougher sell,” Kastnersaid. “And builders are offering concessions because its in their best interest to keep sale prices high; theyre willing to pay buyers closing costs and maybe provide a free washer-dryer if it means they dont have to drop the listing price.
Sign up below for The Daily Consumer, our newsletter on the latest consumer news, including recalls, scams, lawsuits and more.
.newsletter-form {
display: flex;
max-width: 400px;
margin: 20px auto;
background: #f8f9fa;
padding: 10px;
border-radius: 8px;
box-shadow: 0 4px 6px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);
}
.newsletter-input {
flex: 1;
padding: 10px;
border: 1px solid #ccc;
border-radius: 5px 0 0 5px;
font-size: 16px;
outline: none;
}
.newsletter-input:focus {
border-color: #007bff;
}
.newsletter-button {
background: #2976D1;
color: white;
border: none;
padding: 10px 15px;
font-size: 16px;
border-radius: 0 5px 5px 0;
cursor: pointer;
transition: background 0.3s ease;
}
.newsletter-button:hover {
background: #0056b3;
}
#Home #sellers #giving #concessions #nearrecord #levels